When you have loads of money...

"A few months ago, a mystery began blossoming on the streets of New York. All around town, on hundreds of hoardings, bus shelters, phone kiosks and half a dozen billboards in high-traffic areas, a simple white-on-black phrase teased passersby: "See The World Through Ana's Eyes." What did it mean? The sheer omnipresence of the ads suggested it was the work of a movie studio, but no forthcoming releases seemed related. Workers in offices near the billboards quizzed each other and came up blank. Amateur sleuths went online to share theories, to no avail.

Then, late last month, the stark ads were replaced with reproductions of paintings composed of bursting, wild colours, and a new tag line: "See the world through Ana Tzarev's eyes." Oh, well then: Mystery solved.

Wait - Ana who?

Ana Tzarev is a 72-year-old painter, and though almost nobody has heard of her, she is about to become the first person in New York - indeed, perhaps in the history of the art world - to have her work carry a price tag of a million dollars without first ever having sold a single piece of art."

Read the G&M story here.

Gateway Arts District Open Studios coming up!

The Gateway Arts District Open Studio Event will take place on Saturday, December 13, from 1:00-5:00 p and it is a public self-guided tour of professional studios showcasing a variety of mediums - clay/ceramics, painting, sculpture, glass, photography, mixed media, and printmaking

Participating venues include Flux, Red Dirt, Washington Glass School along with several other artists whose studios are located throughout the municipalities of Mount Rainier, Brentwood, North Brentwood and Hyattsville.

The Arts District, just over the border from DC, is a veritable new and growing hot spot of highly acclaimed artists (and a lot of cool new restaurants) that produce works that are exhibited and collected nationally and internationally. For further information, contact Tonya Jordan at 301-864-3860, ext. 1 or email: tonya@gateway-cdc.org.

Wanna go to an Alexandria opening tomorrow?

The Art League Gallery inside the Torpedo Factory in Alexandria, Virginia will be hosting an opening reception on Thursday, December 11 from 6:30 to 8:00pm for "Virtue, Sin & the Balance Within."

On exhibition are Carlos Beltran Baldiviezo's contemporary fine art sculptures, featuring 14 fascinating sculptures representing his "sometimes controversial interpretation of the Seven Virtues and the Seven Deadly Sins." Through January 5, 2008.

Opportunity for Artists

Deadline: 5:00pm on Friday, January 23, 2009

The Cultural Development Corporation (CuDC) is requesting proposals for the Gallery at Flashpoint's September 2009/August 2010 season. Open to all artists, independent curators and arts organizations presenting contemporary work in any medium. The Request for Proposals can be found at flashpointdc.org. The Gallery at Flashpoint presents cutting-edge contemporary art and provides a springboard for talented artists and curators to enhance their careers. The Gallery seeks to inspire creativity and encourage the creation of new work by emerging and under-represented artists and curators. In addition, the Gallery provides a place for artists and curators to experiment with progressive concepts and participate in an active, multi-disciplinary arts community. The Gallery is a venue for exhibitions that explore new and challenging ideas, free from the traditional constraints of a commercial gallery. CuDC is seeking inventive, original proposals in any media.

Gallery at Flashpoint
916 G Street, NW
Washington, DC 20001.